Telecommunications systems, cable television systems and data communication networks use optical networks to rapidly convey large amounts of information between remote points. In an optical network, information (“traffic”) is conveyed in the form of optical signals through optical fibers. The optical signals may comprise a beam of light having a specific wavelength and having the traffic modulated onto the beam. In some instances a wavelength configured to carry information may be referred to as an “optical channel” or a “channel.” Each channel may be configured to carry a certain amount of information through an optical network at a particular data rate.
To increase the information carrying capabilities of an optical network, multiple signals transmitted at multiple channels may be combined into a single optical signal. The process of communicating information at multiple channels of a single optical signal is referred to in optics as wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) refers to the multiplexing of a larger (denser) number of wavelengths, usually greater than forty, into a fiber. WDM, DWDM, or other multi-wavelength transmission techniques are employed in optical networks to increase the aggregate bandwidth per optical fiber. Additionally, various modulation techniques may be used to increase the amount of traffic that may be carried by a particular channel.
However, the techniques used to increase the amount of traffic carried by an optical signal may introduce new challenges in implementing such networks. For example, a high capacity (e.g., a 400 Gigabits/second (400 G)) optical signal may have more stringent performance requirements (e.g., a higher Optical Signal to Noise Ratio (OSNR) requirement). Current methods of compensating for the more stringent performance requirements of high capacity optical signals may be costly and inefficient.